Baby steps: Hossa resumes light skating with Hawks

"It's a great feeling to put the skates on and get on the ice instead of just biking."

Injured Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa took another positive step forward in his rehab from shoulder surgery Friday by resuming light skating.

But don't get too excited. Hossa still doesn't expect to return to the lineup until late November, perhaps at some point during the annual circus road trip.

"If I feel comfortable with the shoulder, I would like to maybe come back sooner, but that's only if I feel comfortable," Hossa said. "If I don't, I'd rather wait an extra week and make sure it's 100 percent right.

"The guys are doing an awesome job right now winning the hockey games so there's less pressure on me to hurry up."

Hossa can only skate for now with little stick handling and no shooting.

"I tried to play a little more with the puck, but they told me to stay away from it, that I'd have lots of time to stick handle, so I tried to listen to them," Hossa said.

"The legs were there even though it was only the first half-hour on the ice after a long time. I just have to work on my conditioning on the ice. I've been doing lots of biking, but when you step on the ice it's a little bit different movement. It's a great feeling to put the skates on and get on the ice instead of just biking."

The Hawks will begin to incorporate some stick handling into Hossa's on-ice routine next week followed by some light shooting.

"It's good that he's back on the ice, he's been really progressing, but he's still a long ways away," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "He's certainly on course and we're excited he's progressing the way he is. We're looking forward to him returning, but we're taking baby steps right now."

It's scary to think what the already-potent Hawks offense will be like when the dynamic Hossa, a 40-goal scorer last season in Detroit, is added to the mix. The Hawks have scored 26 goals in seven games and lead the NHL in shots on goal.

"It's a nice asset to have within our group," Quenneville said of having Hossa waiting in the wings. "He's a great player in a lot of ways and he makes people around him better and he's a hard worker.

"We'll welcome him back when he's ready to go, but at the same time I like the way we've played here. I like the consistency, I like the lines and I like our defense. It's been solid in a lot of ways."

Hossa has been impressed with his new team's 5-1-1 start, which is the club's best since the 1982-83 season.

"Definitely, it's not easy (to watch), especially when you come to a new team," Hossa said. "But the guys are doing really well and it's fun to watch them."

What has jumped out the most to Hossa is the energy the Hawks put forth every night.

"Last week against Calgary was awesome," Hossa said of the comeback victory from 5-0 down. "I jumped on the bike for a long time and we were losing. When I got off we started winning so I told the coach I couldn't bike anymore."

Blackhawks game day

Dallas Stars at the United Center, 7:30 p.m.

TV: Channel 9

Radio: WGN 720-AM

What to watch: The Stars have a new coach in Marc Crawford and eight players 25 years old or younger. They were 2-0-3 going into Friday's game against Boston with 3 shootout losses. Mike Modano (ribs) and Steve Ott (oblique) are out.

Last season: The Hawks swept the series 4-0 behind 4 goals and 4 assists from Patrick Kane.

Next: Vancouver Canucks at the United Center, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <!-- Start of Brightcove Player --> <div style="display:none"> </div> <!-- By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and C found at http://corp.brightcove.com/legal/terms_publisher.cfm. --> <script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="http://admin.brightcove.com/js/BrightcoveExperiences.js"></script> <object id="myExperience45099307001" class="BrightcoveExperience"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /> <param name="width" value="300" /> <param name="height" value="255" /> <param name="playerID" value="18011347001" /> <param name="publisherID" value="1659832549"/> <param name="isVid" value="true" /> <param name="@videoPlayer" value="45099307001" /> </object> <!-- End of Brightcove Player --> </ul> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=329606">Quenneville: Win just what Huet needed<span class="date"> [10/16/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>